GIOVANNI'S POV The leather of the journal felt warm beneath my fingertips, a stark contrast to the cold steel of the vault door I was about to close. Tristan’s handwriting, neat and precise, filled its pages. Pages detailing moments I scarcely remembered noticing, moments of shared laughter, stolen glances, and quiet understanding. Moments that, strung together, painted a picture of something…tender. Something I didn’t think I was capable of inspiring, let alone experiencing.I slammed the vault door shut, the heavy thud echoing the finality of my decision. Tender moments with Tristan. It was almost laughable. For the past few weeks, we'd danced around something resembling a relationship, a dangerous ballet of longing and denial. I'd found myself looking forward to seeing him, to hearing his voice, to the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled.But this wasn’t a fairytale. This was my life, my reality. A reality steeped in blood, betrayal, and the constant, gnawing fear of weakness. An
TRISTAN'S POVMonths had bled into each other like watercolors on wet paper. The sharp, jagged edges of my captivity had softened, smoothed by the unexpected current of… something. I still lived within the gilded cage of Sokolov estate, but the bars felt less like iron and more like ornate, if slightly suffocating, filigree.It was Giovanni. He was changing. Slowly, painstakingly, like a glacier inching across the landscape, but the change was undeniable. The venomous words, the "slut," the "whore," the dehumanizing labels he’d hurled at me during those first agonizing weeks after he’d taken me… they’d stopped. He still possessed me, body and soul, but the contempt was gone. Replaced by… something else. Something I couldn't quite name, but that made my insides churn with a confusing mixture of hope and dread.He’d started treating me… well. Not like a prisoner, not like a possession, but… almost like a person. Like a partner. The shift was subtle at first. A less brutal touch during s
GIOVANNI'S POV The lingering scent of Tristan clung to me, a heady mix of sandalwood and something uniquely his, something that burrowed deep into my senses. God, the way he moved this morning, the soft sounds he made – it was all imprinted on my mind. My body still hummed with the aftershocks of our early morning encounter. Tristan was a drug, a potent, addictive substance coursing through my veins. He was a poison, undoubtedly, but one I willingly consumed. I never reacted like this to anyone, the raw, primal need that Tristan ignited within me was a force I couldn't control. My carnal urges flared around him, a constant, demanding fire that never seemed to be quenched.A sudden impulse seized me. I scooped Tristan up from the bed, his eyes widening in surprise. He squirmed, a reflexive action, and I felt a flicker of annoyance."Stop squirming," I commanded, my voice sharper than I intended. The word hung in the air between us.To my surprise, he stilled. He stopped struggling an
TRISTAN'S POV The weight on my side was familiar, comforting even. I woke up, tangled in the sheets with Giovanni. Naked. Of course, we were naked. It was always this way now. I was nestled against his neck, breathing in his scent, a mix of expensive cologne and something uniquely Giovanni, something that made my stomach flip. He was holding me tight, even in sleep, like I was some precious thing he feared would vanish again.My eyes traced the planes of his face. Perfect. Sculpted. Even in his sleep, there was a certain intensity about him, but a tamed intensity, a controlled fire. I let my gaze drift down, over the strong column of his neck. My handiwork was visible there, a constellation of dark purple blossoming against his skin. Hickeys. A testament to the wild nights we'd been having since he dragged me back from Oakhaven three weeks ago.Wild nights had become the norm. Giovanni was a whirlwind of ruthless efficiency during the day, running the Sokolov empire. But at night, he
GIOVANNI'S POV The sight of Tristan, limping away, his shoulders slumped, was a brand of my soul. Fucking him senseless again. That's what I did. Left him raw, used, and probably hating me. And yet, a part of me, a dark, twisted part, felt a surge of… something. Satisfaction? Triumph? It was more than just a physical release. It was possessing something… someone. Tristan was a beautiful disaster. Blond hair, eyes the color of storm clouds, and a fragility that both enraged and aroused me. He shouldn’t be in this world, shouldn't be stained by the filth of my life. Yet, here he was, willingly, or perhaps forced by circumstance, caught in my web. I still heard his words ringing in my ears, a low, desperate whisper lost amidst the throes of passion. "I'm yours." The phrase had been uttered by others before, sluts vying for my attention, power, or money. But when Tristan had uttered it, something shifted inside. A warmth, foreign and unwelcome, bloomed in my chest. It was happiness,
TRISTAN'S POVI still can’t believe I did it. My lips wrapped around Giovanni’s thick, pulsating cock, my tongue swirling around the sensitive head as he groaned above me. The armor car rumbled beneath us, Dmitri’s steady hands on the wheel the only thing keeping us from careening off the road. The soundproof partition was our only shield, muffling the wet sounds of my mouth working his shaft. Ten minutes. It felt like an eternity, my jaw aching, my throat tight, but I couldn’t stop. Not when Giovanni’s fingers tangled in my blonde hair, guiding me deeper, his low, commanding voice urging me on.“Faster, Tristan,” he growled, his Italian accent thick with desire. “Show me how much you want it.”I hated myself for obeying. Hated that I couldn’t say no, that my body moved on autopilot, my blue eyes fluttering closed as I sucked him harder. Giovanni was my master, my captor, my tormentor. I was his plaything, nothing more than a sex toy for his amusement. The estate loomed in my mind...